


Let Me Help You

by kitlee625



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Episode Related, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-22
Updated: 2013-11-22
Packaged: 2018-01-02 08:03:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1054411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitlee625/pseuds/kitlee625
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My version of what happened the day after 1x08.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let Me Help You

**Author's Note:**

> So I admit that I was peacefully sailing along on the Coulson/May ship when it got Jossed at the end of 1x08. Initially I didn't want to write something until after we got the canon story in 1x09, but the idea wouldn't leave me alone. This is my version of what happened after the door closed, with the picture of Ward in a towel from Twitter as inspiration. (It's like one of those essays that you write in school based on a picture of like a cat in a tree with a dog barking at it.) 
> 
> This is a stand alone story, independent of my other works with Sarahastro. Much thanks to her for being the best beta reader.

Skye looks worried when Ward is not on the plane the next day when they are due to take off. "It's not like him to be late," she tells Coulson.

Coulson agrees. He is also worried about May. He knows her well enough to have noticed how rattled she was after using the Berserker staff, but she had dismissed his attempts to talk the night before. He had last seen her heading downstairs to buy some whiskey. When Skye points out that Ward is missing as well he wonders if she found someone to share it with.

Trying to sound unconcerned he says, "Professor Randolph said that he would be tired once the strength from the Berserker staff wore off. I'll go look for him and Agent May."

"I'll come with you," Skye offers, but Coulson shakes his head.

"Stay here. Call me if Ward or May show up."

He tries Ward's room first but is not surprised to find it empty, the bed still made. Outside May's room he knocks on the door a couple of times with no response. He pauses a minute - it feels not quite right invading her privacy like this - but he rationalizes that he needs to make sure they are all right. He has no idea how they may react once the adrenaline-induced rage wears off.

The room is dimly lit, only a small amount of light squeezing through the curtain, but he is able to make out at once May and Ward sprawled on the bed, both naked and haphazardly covered by the sheets. They are so deeply unconscious that they do not stir when he opens the doors, and for a moment he wonders if they are alive. 

May is lying closest to him, and he touches her shoulder. "Melinda? Melinda?"

Slowly her eyes blink open and focus on him. She looks dazed and exhausted.

"Are you all right?" he asks.

She nods. She pulls the blankets up to cover herself as she sits up and slowly surveys the room, taking in the broken bottle of whiskey on the floor the knocked over lamp and the overturned chairs. She does not offer an explanation, and he does not ask her for one. They both let their gaze linger on Ward's unconscious body.

"Is he okay?" Coulson asks.

She nudges him, and he stirs but does not wake up. "He's tired."

Coulson cannot resist saying, "I bet."

She gives him a look. "Did you need something?"

"We're leaving."

She closes her eyes, and he can see how exhausted she truly is. Ward may be able to sleep it off on the plane, but she has to pilot the bus. He changes his mind.

"We don't have another assignment yet. We can stay here one more day."

She nods. "What are you going to tell the team?"

"That you and Ward are still recovering from the effects of the Berserker staff."

She nods appreciatively and lies back down.

"You should get some rest," Coulson tells her gently. He wants to add that he will be around later if she wants to talk about anything, but she is asleep again as soon as her head hits the pillow.

*****

When she wakes up a few hours later her bed is empty, but she can hear the shower running. Every muscle in her body aches. There is a mirror on the dresser opposite the bed, and as she examines herself she wonders what Coulson was thinking when he saw her. She still has the bruises from her fight with the Norweigans the day before, but there are a few marks - finger shaped bruises along her right hip, a bite mark along her collarbone - that could only have come from Ward. Memories of the night before are a little bit hazy. She knows that before anything else happened they had drank most of the bottle of whiskey. What happened next is a little blurry, but she remembers enough.

The shower stops running and a moment later Ward appears clad only in a towel. He gives her a small smile when he sees that she is awake.

“Morning.”

“You look like you’re feeling better.”

Another man might have smirked at that comment, but this is Grant Ward. He merely smiles a little brighter then looks embarrassed and says, “Thanks for -” he clears his throat, “- for being there last night.”

“Don’t mention it.”

There is an awkward silence, which Ward breaks by saying, “We need to get back to the bus.”

“Coulson already came by. We’re not leaving until tomorrow.”

Ward frowns. “He came by?”

“You were asleep.”

Ward looks uncomfortable. “Did he say anything?”

“Just that we were going to stay here one more day so that you and I can recover from the effects of the staff.”

“Oh.”

“You should probably go back to your room,” she says bluntly. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Ward looks a little surprised but does not argue. After he leaves she takes a shower and changes into clean clothes. She tries to relax in her room, but the disarray reminds her too much of the night before - how out of control she had felt. It had felt good to blow off some steam with him, really good, but she prefers to keep things under control. Besides, she is pretty hungry. She had eaten little the night before, and glancing at the clock she realizes that it is after lunch. On her way out of the hotel she runs into Coulson in the lobby.

“Feeling better?” he asks.

“Awake.”

“Where are you going?”

“To get something to eat.”

“There’s a little place around the corner with great sandwiches. I can show you where it is.”

“Thanks.” 

They walk together in comfortable silence. Normally he fills the silence between them, but today he is uncharacteristically quiet. She wonders if it has anything to do with the night before or how he found her in the morning, but she does not want to ask him that.

She gets a sandwich, and he gets some coffee, and they take a table in the corner. It is after the lunch crowd but too early for dinner, and the place is almost empty except for them.

After a while Coulson says, “I hope you know that I’m always here for you.”

She sets down her sandwich and arches one eyebrow at him.

“If you ever need to talk. We’ve know each other a long time, Melinda.”

That much is true. Over the years their relationship has gone through many incarnations, but she likes the one they are in now. The one in which there is trust and understanding without any of the mess. They know each others secrets, and there is no one that she would trust more with hers than Coulson.

As if reading her mind he says, “I know that I’ve asked a lot of you since you signed up for this assignment: going back into the field, helping me uncover the truth about some things. I rely on you a lot, but it doesn’t just have to be that way. You can depend on me too.”

“I know that.” She finishes her sandwich. “Last night I didn’t really feel like talking.”

He nods. “How is Ward?”

“He’s okay. He’ll be fine.” She gets up to leave, and they walk back to the hotel. When they get to her door, she hesitates and says, “Phil?”

“Yes?”

“What you said earlier, if I wanted to talk -”

He smiles. “Of course.”

*****

Ward is embarrassed when he wakes up and realizes that he fell asleep again while waiting for room service. Groggy, he gets up and finds his lukewarm burger and tepid fries waiting for him outside his room.

He cannot help but look at May’s door and wonder if she is awake and as hungry as he is. Maybe he should see if she wants to get something to eat together. Before he can make up his mind whether to go and knock on her door, the door on the other side of his opens, and he hears May’s voice. He turns and sees her leaving Coulson's room.

“I should get some sleep,” she says.

“You look pretty tired. Sorry I kept you up,” Coulson says.

“It’s okay.”

They spot Ward.

Coulson looks pleased to see him. “Grant. How are you feeling?”

“Fine sir.”

“Good enough to head out tomorrow?”

“Yes sir.”

“Great.” Coulson glances from May to Ward and says, “I’ll see you both in the morning then.”

Once Coulson has shut his door, Ward cannot help but ask, “You were with Coulson?” He tries to sound casual, but as soon as the words leave his mouth he knows that he fails at that.

She scowls and crosses her arms. “We were just talking.”

“Talking,” he repeats, like he does not quite believe her. “Is that what we were doing last night?”

Unfortunately just then Skye comes into the hall. The look of relief on her face when she sees Ward gives him a pang of guilt. “S.O.,” she says, “good to see you on your feet. Coulson said you guys were wiped out after what happened with the Berserker staff.”

“We’re fine,” Ward says shortly. He does not want Skye around when he is trying to talk to May. He wonders how much of their conversation she heard.

Skye answers his question by asking, “So what happened last night?”

“Nothing. I ran into May in the hallway, and we talked.” The words do not even sound convincing to him.

May gives him a look. “We drank too much, and Ward passed out in my room.”

“Oh.” Skye looks like she wants to believe May. “So May drank you under the table,” she teases Ward.

“Yeah. I have a killer hangover,” he lies. “I’m going to go lie down.”

“Okay. Well if you feel better later Fitz-Simmons and I were going to watch some Firefly on Fitz’s laptop, if you want to join us.”

“Thanks,” he says.

Skye disappears down the hall, and Ward takes the opportunity to resume their previous conversation. “So what did happen last night?” he says again.

May frowns at him and pushes him towards his door. “Not in the hall.”

Once the door is closed behind her, she crosses her arms like she is waiting for him to say something. The problem is that he does not know what to say next. He has to admit that he has had a bit of a crush on her since he came on board. She is the most amazing, sexy, and deadly agent he has ever met, and he finds both her beauty and her skills to be a turn on. However he also knows that in the field it is important not to let such feelings get in the way of one’s duty. S.H.I.E.L.D. may not have an official policy on inter-agency dating, but there is an unwritten rule amongst field agents to keep it strictly professional while on assignment. Despite how gratifying it might have felt to give in the night before, he has been feeling embarrassed all day for losing control.

She is the one to break the awkward silence between them, saying, “I wouldn’t have expected you to get jealous, Ward.”

“I’m not jealous.”

“Hasn’t this ever happened when you were in the field before?” When he does not answer right away she says, “It’s perfectly normal. Tensions rise, and you need a little release.”

He honestly never has had sex with anyone he was in the field with before, but he does not want to admit it to Melinda May. She probably has slept with several legendary agents.

“You know that it was just a one time thing, right?” she says.

“Of course,” he says. She gives him a dubious look, and he feels a spike of annoyance. Does she think that he is some sad little puppy with a crush on her? 

“Let me help you, Ward,” she says.

“I don’t need your help.”

“Last night you needed to blow off some steam. We both did. But you can’t keep dealing with what you’re going through that way. I know how you’re feeling. Let me help you.”

“Help how? By talking about it?” Neither of them are much for talking about things, and he suspects that she is not a good listener either.

She shrugs. “If you want. To me or to someone else. Coulson is a good listener, and I know that Skye wants to be there for you.”

He shakes his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

She shrugs. “You need to let people in. You’re not out in the field alone anymore. You don’t have to do it all yourself.”

“How long did it take for you to let people in?”

“A while,” she admits. “But it helps.”

He wants to believe her. If the Asgardian professor is right, he is going to have to live with these unburied memories for decades. He sits on the bed and gestures for her to take a seat. “How much time do you have?”

She sits in an armchair facing him. “As much as you need.”


End file.
